Staff / Samantha M. Shal -- Redan's Joseph Graves (1) takes a swing at the ball during a game at Lakeview earlier this season. Graves and the Raiders won the AAAA state championship on Monday by sweeping Marist in a three-game series.

In a rematch of the Region 6AAAA championship series, Redan swept Marist (11-0 and 4-3) in the Class AAAA state championship on Monday on Marist's homefield.

The two teams had met four times earlier in the season. Marist won the first battle 2-1 (in 9 innings) on April 1 in a regular season game. The powerhouse programs met again in a three-game set for the 6AAAA title on April 23 and 24. The Raiders took the first game (9-2) before Marist rebounded to win games two (4-1), three (14-2) and capture the 6AAAA championship.

In the state playoffs, Redan (30-7 overall) advanced to the championship series by sweeping Heritage (8-4 and 12-2), Columbus (5-4 and 9-4) and Locust Grove (11-1 and 13-3). The Raiders then took two of three games from Troup County (9-8, 3-4, 3-2) in the state semifinals.

It was the Raiders first trip to the state championship series and they became the first DeKalb County School to win a baseball state championship since Dunwoody took home the Class AAA crown in 2007.

Marist, whose baseball tradition is as rich as any in the state and possibly the country, came up short in an effort to win their their third state championship in the last four seasons, and their 13th overall — finish first in in 1949, ‘77, ‘81, ‘83, ‘84, ‘85, ‘90, ‘93, 2002, ‘03, ‘10 and ‘11.

The War Eagles entered the Class AAAA final as one of the hottest teams in the state of Georgia, winning 12 straight games and going a perfect 8-0 in playoff action. Their four playoff series included sweeps of River Ridge (9-0, 7-1), Carrollton (6-5, 8-0), South Effingham (8-1, 15-0) and Crisp County (6-3, 2-1).

Another local team that made a state championship push this spring was St. Pius X. The Golden Lions advanced to the Final Four for the first time in school history and set a school record for wins (25) before being eliminated by Cartersville in the Class AAA state semifinals

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